Paramedics reject contract offer

By DAVID JACKSON Provincial ReporterPublished February 26, 2013 - 8:06pm

Back to the table for employer, union and conciliator

Nova Scotia’s paramedics have almost unanimously rejected their employer’s final contract offer, sending the two sides back to a conciliator.

Terry Chapman, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers local that represents paramedics, said Tuesday that 98 per cent of those who voted turned down the offer. He said 727 people voted, of about 750 eligible.

Chapman said paramedics opposed a fatigue management policy that the employer, Emergency Medical Care Inc., introduced last fall. He said it gives supervisors too much discretion over whether employees are too tired to work and should go home or if they can do extra shifts when available.

Stacey Brown, Emergency Medical Care’s spokeswoman, said in an email the policy is to ensure the safety of employees and the public by making certain employees have enough time off between shifts

Employees have been under an increasing amount of stress, Chapman said. Over the last year, some shifts have gone unfilled, which, in some cases, has left one crew to cover an area normally covered by two, he said.

Paramedics want working conditions addressed in the new agreement.

The union also wants defined-benefit pensions, as other unionized health-care workers have, instead of the defined-contribution plans, Chapman said.

Covering open shifts comes down to making sure replacements have enough rest between shifts, Brown said.

The company was disappointed that the offer was rejected, she said. The offer included a raise of 10.95 per cent over five years, a shift premium for working nights and weekends, premium increases for senior operations paramedics and increased funding support for education programs, Brown said.

She said the next step is getting back to the table with the union and conciliator.

Chapman said the vote on the contract doubled as a strike vote. There is no countdown to a strike at this point, though. The union will again try to work on issues through a conciliator, he said.

The countdown to a strike would begin when the conciliator files a report with the Labour and Advanced Education Department.

Recent news reports have indicated some paramedics are leaving the province for better pay and working conditions elsewhere.